Helene Williams, Belle Linda Halpern, Leonard Lehrman and Ron Roy, with The Solidarity Singers of the New Jersey Industrial Union Council, present songs commemorating the life and work of singer/actress Martha Schlamme (Sept. 25, 1923-Oct. 6, 1985), whose 100th birthday would have been tonight. Martha Schlamme was an Austrian-American Jewish force of nature, a fighter for social justice, and a performer in 12 languages, specializing in Yiddish, German, French, Spanish, and Russian. After the Austrians accepted Hitler in 1938, Schlamme went into exile, first to Strasbourg, then London, and then interned on the Isle of Man, where she learned to sing "Songs of Many Lands". During the last five years of Schlamme's life she was a faithful friend, supporter, correspondent, and advisor of composer/conductor/pianist/translator Leonard Lehrman. She was also a devoted teacher and friend to singer Belle Linda Halpern, who studied with Martha from age 14 until Martha's death ten years later. Belle Linda's 1986 WBAI tribute to Martha, produced with Sue Renee Bernstein, inspired this series of concerts.
Leonard and Helene began working together in 1987 and have performed over 700 times in Europe, Australia, Israel, Canada, and the U.S.

Belle Linda Halpern, with her accompanist Ron Roy, has performed as a cabaret singer in NYC, Boston, San Francisco, Paris, Munich, Jerusalem, Bombay, and every summer in the hills of Tuscany.

The Solidarity Singers, led by Bennet Zurofsky, perform at demonstrations and concerts throughout the Metropolitan area. Their collaborations with Leonard Lehrman & Helene Williams have included The Marc Blitzstein Centennial; the opera The Triangle Fire at the American Labor Museum, Puffin Cultural Forum, NYU, and HBO.

NOTE: This contribution is for the livestream only and does NOT include the in person event.

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